Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Studies Funded Under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act

Pediatrics May 2021

Access article on PubMed.

Abdel-Rahman SM, Paul IM, Hornik C, Sullivan JE, Wade K, Delmore P, Sharma G, Benjamin DK, Zimmerman KO

The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) incentivizes the study of on-patent medicines in children and mandates that the NIH sponsor research on off-patent drugs important to pediatric therapeutics. Failing to enroll cohorts that reflect the pediatric population at large restricts the generalizability of such studies. This investigation evaluates racial and ethnic minority representation among participants enrolled in BPCA-sponsored studies. This study revealed no evidence of racial and ethnic bias in enrollment for pediatric studies conducted with funding from BPCA, fulfilling the legislation’s expectation to ensure adequate representation of all children.